190-01115-01 G3X™/G3X Touch™ Avionics Installation Manual
Rev. AV Page 30-67
Yaw Damper
The GSA 28 autopilot system can be expanded to support a yaw damper. A yaw damper will control the
rudder to try and compensate or remove aircraft body yaw (tail wagging). The yaw damper will also try to
null the lateral acceleration (center the ball) over the long term. The ball centering portion of the yaw
damper is not a replacement for proper rudder trim.
During the flight test phase, the yaw damper is configured and set up after the basic two axis pitch and roll
performance has been properly configured. This is done so the pilot can focus on properly adjusting the
performance of each individual component of the autopilot system without trying to tune them all at once.
NOTE
Make sure basic autopilot functionality is properly adjusted before using the yaw damper.
During the flight test phase of the autopilot checkout, the yaw servo aggressiveness will be adjusted to get
the desired in-fight performance. The “Yaw Damper Servo Gain” setting is used to set the aggressiveness
of the yaw servo. A larger number will cause the yaw servo to more aggressively control the aircraft, and a
smaller number will cause the yaw servo to less aggressively control the aircraft.
Trim Control
The GSA 28 autopilot servos can be used to control the trim system in an aircraft. In some installations, the
autopilot servo(s) will drive external 3rd party trim motor(s) using a variable voltage output signal from the
GSA 28 servo(s). In other installations, separate GSA 28 servo(s) dedicated to this purpose may directly
control the trim system with no 3rd party trim motor(s) being used.
When the autopilot is disengaged, the servos can adjust the trim speed based on the current aircraft
airspeed. This allows the trim to run slower at high airspeeds and faster at low airspeeds. When the
autopilot is engaged in the air, the servos can adjust the trim control to minimize the force on the primary
controls. This helps make sure the aircraft will be properly trimmed when the autopilot is later disengaged.
During the flight test phase, the trim system is configured and set up after the primary autopilot
performance has been properly configured. This is done so the pilot can focus on properly adjusting the
performance of the primary autopilot system without having the auto-trim functionality interfere.
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